Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
“Something worth fighting for”
“When are you going to get it into your head? We're in this together!” Have you ever felt that there was an immovable obstacle in your way, only to realize that it’s not so immovable with friends by your side? Hermione Granger shows this truth to Harry Potter in the film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Directed by David Yates). The film has strong themes of love, friendship, and truth.
The film, based on the novel of the same name written by J.K. Rowling, begins with Harry Potter (David Radcliffe), and his cousin (Harry Melling) on summer vacation. What seems to be a light scene in a playground quickly turns heavy when Harry and his cousin are attacked a pair of soul-sucking dementors. Harry has no choice but to protect himself with magic, something illegal outside of school for underage wizards. The Ministry of Magic finds out almost immediately and Harry is sent a notice of expulsion.
Things seem to turn a little bit brighter when a bunch of wizards, including Harry’s old defense against the dark arts professor, show up at his house to rescue him with news that Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) convinced to ministry not to expel him. Although Harry is now safely at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization working to fight Voldemort, he is far from content. Dreams of Voldemort haunt his nights. Worst of all, the Minister of Magic and his group do not believe Voldemort has returned, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and they’ve taken to trying to discredit Dumbledore and Harry mainly through influence of the newspaper.
Harry feels quite alone and confused upon returning to school, only to find out that even people he once counted among his best friends now question his sanity. As if life could get any worse, it does. The ministry, not trusting Dumbledore, places one of their own as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). Umbridge is a positively delightful character, complete with detention methods that involve writing lines with your own blood. Don’t be fooled by her pink outfits and pictures of kittens, this woman is on a mission to squash any talk of Voldemort's return.
Realizing that the Ministry isn’t about to help them defend themselves against a foe that the ministry refuses to admit is on the move, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) decide to start a secret group, Dumbledore’s Army, to train themselves in Defensive Magic. With enmity coming from the Ministry, Umbridge, and Voldemort, Harry needs to realize he can’t win this battle alone. Will he accept help before it’s too late?
Acting in this film was superb, with the main three actors continuing to flourish. A few new characters were added to the film including Umbridge, Luna, and Bellatrix, all of whom are very memorable. This movie was more artistic and theatrical than the first 3 of the series. My favorite film in the collection so far, it is only surpassed by the novel itself, which is expected; Compressing an almost 900 page novel full of beautifully intertwined yet individual plot lines into a 139 minute film is easier said than done.
This film and book could easily be called controversial, in the Christian sub-culture, what with wizards, witches, wands and all, but I believe that we can take away some very valid points from this story. We are called to stand for the truth of Christ’s life, deity, death, and ressurection. Harry is called to stand for the truth of Voldemort’s return. We are called to be one body and fight for truth and liberty from sin. Harry and his friends are called to work together and fight for the truth and liberty from evil.
I could keep going about the parallels, action, characters etc. for days, but I’d rather tell you to watch it yourself and make your own judgments. The bottom line, as Harry states it is, “Even though we've got a fight ahead of us, we've got one thing that Voldemort doesn't have. Something worth fighting for.”
Released: 11 July 2007
Rating: PG-13
Review: **** (out of 5)
BRILLIANT!
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